The crowd attending a Tucson forum Wednesday had an overwhelmingly negative response to Gov. Doug Ducey's plan to overhaul Arizona's Medicaid program.
About 100 people attended Wednesday's public hearing, which focused on proposed changes to the state's Medicaid program.The changes, a combination of proposals from Ducey and the Arizona legislature, would apply to "able-bodied adults" and would among other things impose co-payments, a lifetime enrollment limit of five years, and would eliminate coverage for ambulance rides deemed, "non-emergency transportation."
Medicaid is a government insurance program for extremely low income people. In Arizona, the program is called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and covers 1.7 million people, including 271,000 in Pima County.
The threshold is a yearly income of 133 percent of the federal poverty level or less β thatβs $31,721 or less for a family of four and $15,521 or less for an individual.
Critics say the planned overhaul is punitive to the poor and only puts up more barriers to healthcare. Among the people voicing concern were representatives of CODAC Behavioral Health, the United Way of Southern Arizona, and the Rio Rico Fire District.
People with serious mental illness, children, people with disabilities and the elderly are not considered able-bodied.
And while "able-bodied" people with jobs would not be subject to the lifetime enrollment limit, many people at the Tucson forum said that the rules could still negatively affect otherwise able-bodied adults who are unpaid caregivers for family members, as well as felons and American Indians living on reservations, both groups who have trouble finding employment.
They also noted that people who are disenrolled from AHCCCS would face a federal penalty for not having health insurance, which would only worsen their situation.
The Ducey administration says the overhaul is an attempt to modernize the program, help Arizonans take more control of their own health, and ensure that Medicaid is a temporary option for health coverage, not a permanent one.
When Democratic Arizona legislator Sally Ann Gonzales of Tucson got up during the public comment period to say that she voted against both legislative bills supporting the overhaul, the crowd gave her loud applause.
The Ducey administration this fall plans on asking the federal governmentβs permission to approve proposed changes to the program. If approved, the changes likely would not begin until late in 2016, AHCCCS spokeswoman Monica Coury told those in attendance Wednesday.
Lonnie Jones of The Women's Health Coalition of Arizona said the proposal puts up, "unnecessary obstacles that will cause unnecessary suffering."
She also called for the state to resurrect its KidsCare government health insurance for children of families that make too much to qualify for AHCCCS but are still considered low income.
KidsCare was Arizona's version of the federal Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Arizona is the only state in the country that has closed its CHIP program and many children's advocates say the move has been a financial negative for families.
Comments and questions may be submitted by email to PublicInput@azahcccs.gov or by mail to AHCCCS, c/o Office of Intergovernmental Relations, 801 E. Jefferson St., Mail Drop 4200, Phoenix, AZ 85034.
